The City of Freedom - Gdansk

Meeting Lech Walesa in the City of Freedom

Gdansk became the City of Freedom because of the shipyard worker strikes in the 70’s & 80’s, and the rise of Solidarity led by Lech Walesa.Their courage inspired similar movements across the Soviet bloc paving the way for diplomatic talks at the 1985 Reagan-Gorbachev Geneva Summit. This is how Gdansk became the City of Freedom and Geneva the City of Peace.

The Gdansk Shipyard

Visiting Gdansk

The many sites to visit include the European Solidarity Center, the BHP Center where visits are free and you will find an interesting cafeteria with Cold War era products, the historic shipyard that is now being revitalised, the Old Town, the Reagan and John Paul II parc, and much more.

Westerplatte

Westerplatte is where the first battle of World War II took place as the Germans attacked Poland with all their might expecting a quick victory. 180 Polish soldiers repelled 570 Germands for 7 days - in the images we see the remains of their stronghold where little was left standing.

Historic Gdansk Shipyard Revitalised

Here I am with Jadwiga Kosinska at the former headquarters of the Shipyard that are now home to Stocznia Cesarska, a development organisation that is working to revitalise the site while keeping the memory of the historic events that make this place so special and unique.